Thread by @FuturesTrader71

Traders: The holy grail of trading and the best advice I can give you about trading futures is below...

#ES_F #trading #futures

1) Your job is align with the market. It is not to be a mind-reader, a forecaster of economies, an analyst

2) To win, you have to have 4 things correct in YOUR trading timeframe:

1. Direction
2. Stop size
3. Entry location
4. Targets

3) Our goal as traders is to SAMPLE the market as many times as possible and at the lowest risk that fits the time frame and product

4) NONE of this matters if we aren't here tomorrow because we blew up today or ran out of money. So it is a cliche, but is the truth: RISK COMES FIRST.

5) If I suck at managing risk but have the greatest trading plan and edge in the world, then I might as well go to Vegas...at least the drinks are free while I lose. Note: This is the 3rd time risk control is mentioned here

6) I'm not as good as my last trade. Living this way is intolerable, volatile and will wreck my psychology. I'm as good as MY BEST EXECUTION of my edge. Period. Win, lose or scratch, I executed the trade according to plan and it had a 50/50 chance. I CANNOT CHANGE THIS FACT!

7) The outcome of the very next trade is CERTIFIABLY AND POSITIVELY RANDOM. I can't change that. So all I can manage is risk (mentioned for the 4th time here). So randomness and luck are built into the game.

8) If randomness is built into the game, then my stop is simply the price of the token I need to determine if the next round will pay me or cost me. My stop is just a fee to participate. Nothing in life exists without a fee to participate (opportunity cost or time cost mostly)

9) To survive all of the above, we must have an understanding of how our market/product trades, what moves it and how we align ourselves WITH IT not it with us. It isn't personal. The market is a force of nature, align or get run over. Period. No sense arguing.

10) Only ur family cares abt how u feel. Market doesn't. That isn't its job. Market is infinitely providing opportunity to win or lose. Relentless like the ocean or the wind. Our job is to find our way to use its force to carry our position to profit with minimum risk.

11) Most people personalize and complicate it beyond what it really is. That's part of learning. But we become pros when we shed the complications & see the auction then layer a way (setups) to engage & manage trades

12) We can't study our losses away. So many people fail by trying & trying. They are just there in the randomness. Stick to the plan (if we have one).

13) HAPPY SURFING. In the end, we can't take it with us. It is just a journey. Trading is just one heck of a ride and a supreme mentor/educator about who we really are. We can always reason away our bullshit in a regular job. The market doesn't allow it.

14) And finally, let's forgive and love ourselves. We do our best. That's all we can do. Enjoy the suffering and the victories alike. Even in quitting trading, we are A LOT wiser for it. Again, we do the same in real life, the results are just not immediate.

GOOD LUCK!

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A member of @ConvTrading took the time to aggregate this thread in this image. Thought it might be useful to some folks who might want to print it.